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Saturday, 1 March 2014

Think backGo onHow old are you?About eight?Yeah, about eightAnd you're ok, you areAll in allIt's probably the summerThat's why it's still light at 7pmYou've just got out of the carAnd there are two peacocks in the car parkThe ones with all the coloured feathersMan onesYou're holding three bags of doughnutsFor the doghnut eating competition(Where you have to eat a whole doughnut without licking your lips) At the youth club for kids in care where your mum worksYou're not really supposed to be hereBut your mum's boss has turned a blind eyeBecause of what your mum's been through recentlyOh, lookThere's SamanthaYou don't know her yetShe comes to talk to you as soon as she sees youShe tells you she's 14(Wow, you think)And that she's been coming here for two yearsAnd that she has Down's SyndromeAnd that she's been in 12 foster homesAnd that the reason she's been in so manyIs that people can't cope with herThey couldn't cope with me, says SamanthaI have aggressionWhat kind? You askJust the normal kind, she saysSamantha looks at you quite a lotAnd you look back at her just as muchShe asks you why you're hereAnd you don't know what to saySamantha says, are you in care?And after about five secondsYou shake your headSamantha holds your handAnd takes you insideAnd makes you a RibenaAnd she says, you're really kind to meAs she passes it to youAnd you win the doughnut eating competitionEven though you cheatNowFast forward about 15 yearsYou're eating a school dinnerIn a school hallYou've just performed a show for some of the kidsOh, lookThere's AmyYou don't know her yetBut she comes to talk to you as soon as she sees youShe tells you that she's 12And that she's been at this school since SeptemberAnd that there's a girl on her bus who wants to beat her upAnd that she's been in about seven different foster homesAnd that she's never met her dadAnd that she really liked the showYou ask her what her favourite part of the show wasShe says she liked the whole thingShe tells you that the reason she's been in so many foster homesIs that people can't cope with herThey couldn't cope with me, she saysBecause of aggression and angerShe tells you all about itThe words that she uses to describe herselfAre words that she's heard adults using about herAntisocialHyperactiveAttention seekingDifficulty bondingActing outShe tells you that she misses her mumBut that her mum had to give her upFor loads of reasonsAnd that she only sees her every now and againShe tells you that she's been told she'd be a good social workerYou ask her if that's what she wants to beAnd she laughs in your faceAnd says, no way

And she pulls her tights right up to her waistAnd asks you if you can come and do a show every weekShe doesn't really look at you when she's speaking to youBut that's okYou get it